Prophetic Daughter
by Kat271
Summary: Sydney's search for the truth...Rambaldi's final plan...a family's fight for peace.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Prophetic Daughter  
  
Summary: Post S#, trying to make some kind of sense of it all. Mostly fluff, but in a great kinda fluffy way.  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine. Not mine.  
  
Personal Disclaimer: This will not be one of my Fan-Epic's. I have to keep telling myself! Short and sweet. Bear with me here guys I'm trying to get out this story it's just taken a couple of false starts... but I have a really good feeling about this one!  
  
FEEDBACK FEEDBACK FEEDBACK FEEDBACK please...  
  
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There are certain things in life one should never learn. For Sydney what was contained in the file, within the Safety Deposit Box, in Wittenberg, was one of those things. It affected her life. Her mother's life, her sister's life, the life of the man she loved. But Sydney was at the heart of it. And somehow her father had found a way to twist everything she had lived, everything she had ever done. In some omnipotent way, Jack Bristow had played God. He may not have intended it that way, but as always things are never as one intends.  
  
He started out as simply a messenger, a recorder. He took down everything, from birth to, well, to death. Most of the time he'd played an innocent bystander. Some of the time he'd taken an active role in shaping the outcome of events. Other times he'd played things, maneuvered fate so events would turn out just as he calculated. In truth, he'd played the role of God, more often than perhaps God himself.  
  
Information was his business. It was his life. He never would have thought that it would destroy her. But then again he never would have thought a lot of things.....  
  
..............................................................................  
  
"Sydney, you're not going to like the way this sounds but I'm going to say it anyway. I'm not letting you go alone." Vaughn half yelled, half pleaded.  
  
She reacted just as he'd foreseen.  
  
"Vaughn," She sighed exasperated. "We're not arguing over this, and I don't have time. I have to do this, and I have to do it alone. What I need from you right now is for you to trust me." Sydney frowned.  
  
"Hold on just a second Sydney, why can't you tell me what this is about? First you're flying off to Europe, and leaving me here to cover with the CIA. Not to mention the fact that you had me lie to your father. Come on Sydney, this is ridiculous." Vaughn chased her as she walked toward the door. She reached to open it but he stood in her way.  
  
She stopped and looked him in the eye. It was the kind of look that said, if I wasn't in love with you I would Crescent kick the hell out of your face right now.  
  
Vaughn stood firm, not caving under her looks of death.  
  
"Vaughn," She said, closing her eyes in her truly infuriated way. "I'm sorry." She sighed, opening her eyes. They were now much softer than they were a moment ago. "I just can't..." She shook her head, feeling the tears burn her eyes, but fighting desperately not to cry them. "I want to tell you everything. I want to be with you, to do this together." She breathed in unsteadily. "I can't. Please, just let me go." She pleaded desperately.  
  
And he caved. It wasn't that he didn't trust her. He just hated that after all the time they'd spent apart, they weren't able to be together, be honest with each other.  
  
He lowered his head for a moment, before lifting his eyes to meet hers. He gave a vague attempt at a smile, and pulled Sydney into a tight hug.  
  
"Be careful, I don't want to lose you now." He sighed, letting her go. Sydney smiled weakly and kissed him before running out the door.  
  
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	2. 2

It had only been a week since he'd shot and killed his wife. All this after capturing and torturing her, before being stabbed in the back, and having a lung punctured. Vaughn rubbed his chest absent mindedly, where there was still a bandage over his stitches. If he had any perspective on the situation at all, he would have laughed, or possibly cried, over the absolutely fantastic events of the previous weeks. But that was just it, Vaughn had lost his perspective a long time ago.  
  
Maybe it was when he's been nearly drown by a large spinning ball of water. Or when a maniacal evil doer had started micro-waving people to death; But somewhere along the way he'd lost all ability to look at things in a normal way. What it really came down to was Her. He'd once said "I'm trying to live a normal life". Sydney was far from normal, and his life with her in it was far from anything he could have ever imagined.  
  
The coffee pot finally started brewing and he pulled it hastily from the holder and poured a cup. It was one thing for a man to lose his perspective because he was in love with a truly amazing woman. It was a completely different thing for a man to lose his perspective on life; completely and utterly. He burned his tongue on the hot coffee and cursed as he spilled half the cup on the floor.  
  
As if directly on cue, in the way bad things seemed to happen all at once, the phone rang. Vaughn threw the towel he was holding into the mess of coffee and labored to rise from his knees. The phone rang again, and he tried to breathe in deeply. Big mistake. It was like a knife shooting through his chest all over again. Slowly the pain subsided and Vaughn picked up the phone right on the forth ring.  
  
"Hello." He wheezed.  
  
"Vaughn? Are you alright?" Jack's voice came clearly through the receiver.  
  
"I'm fine." Vaughn said, his tone immediately dropping into a resentful snarl.  
  
"Where is Sydney?" Jack asked, his voice hinting that he already knew the answer to the question.  
  
Vaughn tried to breathe again, taking time to decide on an answer. Jack could just be playing him, pretending as if he already knew, so that Vaughn would let his guard down. Or Jack might truly know, and thus be waiting to catch Vaughn in a lie. Beating a Game Theorist at his own game, was exasperating.  
  
"She's not here." Vaughn decided on a neutral, leading answer.  
  
"Obviously; She's on a plane. Where is she going?" Jack said, his voice strained.  
  
Vaughn sighed, painfully. "I don't know."  
  
"What has she told you?" Jack said, his tone changing quickly.  
  
Vaughn recognized this as a change in tactics. He'd seen Jack in action, but was still so unsure of how to play him.  
  
"Look, Sydney is doing what she needs to do." Vaughn said, letting his voice rise in anger.  
  
"Vaughn, think about all that she has gone through. Do you honestly believe that she should be alone right now? Out there with some vendetta?" Jack's voice was now steady, calculated.  
  
Vaughn breathed in again, less labored this time; though he wasn't enjoying this little game. "It's none of you business Jack, and it's none of mine. Sydney's a big girl. The last thing she needs right now is both of us charging in to rescue her." Vaughn said, his tone becoming more and more calculated.  
  
"Fine, but I should warn you. She's in over her head. Sydney thinks she knows everything. She thinks that she is doing what is right." He paused in a sort of moment of truth. "She's wrong. I'm not saying that I wasn't wrong. But she should be better informed before racing off to..." Jack trailed off, not wanting to reveal any more.  
  
"To do what Jack?" Vaughn prompted.  
  
"I'll explain later." With that Jack hung up the phone.  
  
..................................................................  
  
The message had been urgent. He hated it when he was forced away from his project for some work related issue. Omnifam was no longer of any use to him. He found Nadia, she was with him, he didn't need anything more. He called his secretary immediately, furious at the interruption. If the message had been from anyone else he would have ignored it. But it wasn't often that Julia Thorne requested to meet with him.  
  
The car moved slowly through the traffic on Zurich's streets. The flight hadn't taken long, but he was still exhausted. He was getting too old for this, he decided; but what choice did he have? He watched as the rain soaked streets crowded with people and cars, moved like a sort of orchestrated chaos; Everything moving with some insignificant purpose, but purpose nonetheless.  
  
The car stopped in front of the large building he'd called home for the last two years, and he quickly ran up the stairs and inside, leaving the world of chaos behind him. The place he entered was one of complete order. Not a chair, nor spec of dust out of place. The pictures hung with perfection, the carpets meticulously cleaned. He'd kept it spotless since he'd moved in. Had there been someone to share the space with, it would have been different. But it was just him, and he craved order.  
  
She was waiting in the family room. A space he'd rarely entered throughout his inhabitance in the house. He'd told the housekeeper to put her there, he thought she'd like it best. It had a certain hominess that he'd always associated with her.  
  
"Hello Sydney," He said as he rounded the corner into the room. She hadn't seen him yet, but stood looking out one of the grandiose widows onto the street below. He wondered for a short moment, if she noticed what he had upon looking at the street. He wondered if she could see the difference between the chaos and the order.  
  
"I wonder how you did it." She said softly, not taking her eyes from the glass. He recognized her tone immediately, her game face was on. "You never had me fooled. My father maybe; the US Government, for sure. But the fact that you had even one person believe you, it just seems ridiculous." She began to turn after she finished speaking, a slight smile on her face.  
  
Sloane sat on the sofa and extended and arm, offering her a seat. He sat contemplating for a moment before speaking. Sydney moved to sit across from him.  
  
"You didn't come all this way to talk about the past Sydney." He smiled warmly.  
  
"Actually I did." She said, letting her poker face falter in emotion. "I came to talk about my sister." She said calmly, resuming composure.  
  
"I see." Sloane nodded, watching her intently. "Nadia has spoken very highly of you." He smiled again, this time with a sort of fatherly pride.  
  
"She would have been safe in LA with me. I have to assume that you have some unfinished business with her. Taking her from a CIA safe house was a risky move." Sydney said, leaning back against the sofa.  
  
"Oh I didn't take her Sydney. She broke out on her own." Sloane smiled pridefully again. "And yes, we have some unfinished business to attend to." His smile changed with his words. It was a smirk she recognized immediately. It was the way he always looked when talking about his Rambaldi obsession.  
  
"I hope, for you sake, it doesn't involve injecting her with more poisons, or forcing her to do things against her will." Sydney said, hinting at her true objective.  
  
Sloane picked up on her emotion, but didn't let on. "Sydney, you must believe that I would never do anything to hurt my own daughter." Sloane said innocently. "Nadia is fine, and she is willingly participating. I can't tell you how happy it makes me that you feel so strongly for her. I know she feels the same for you." He smiled, turning as the housekeeper brought a tray of tea into the room. Both paused until she left the room. "Now tell me Sydney. I know you didn't come here to talk about me, or even Nadia."  
  
"I want to know the truth about what happened to me during those two years, and you no longer need to lie, to pretend that you are loyal to the US Government. I want to know what was done to me, and why." She demanded, letting her emotions show outright.  
  
"Sydney, I don't," He started before being cut off.  
  
"Please don't lie to me." She blurted out. "I've had enough lies, and enough deception. I only want the truth. You owe it to me." She said firmly.  
  
"Sydney," he said before pausing. "The truth is, that I don't know all the details of your capture by The Covenant."  
  
"Don't lie to me." Sydney said enraged.  
  
"I'm not Sydney. There is no use in denying anymore that I am the creator of The Covenant. But Sydney, you have to understand, that I was not the direct Head of it. I was under strict scrutiny by the CIA and NSA, there is no way that I could run the day to day operations." Sloane said calmly.  
  
Sydney watched him closely, not wanted to believe a word he said.  
  
"Bomani was the acting Head. He hired many of his own people and took many liberties that I would not have necessarily allowed if I had been able to control him. But I wasn't, and I had to maintain my cover. Finding Nadia was the top priority." Sloane admitted slowly.  
  
"And Me?" Sydney demanded again.  
  
Sloane sighed, as if trying to decide what to say. "You were, well one of the liberties that Bomani took, without my permission." Sloane stated with a hint of regret.  
  
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She yelled.  
  
"It means Sydney, that I never intended for you to be tortured or reprogrammed as you were." Sloane said, averting his eyes from hers. "That was one of Bomani, or his team's ideas. They saw you as an asset."  
  
"Like hell, they used me just the way you did at SD-6." Sydney spat unable to look at him. "They used me for your purposes, for your obsession with Rambaldi and his prophesies." Sydney leaped off the sofa and stood looming above him, as if ready to strike. "Don't pretend like you were above it all. It happened because of you."  
  
"Sydney," Sloane breathed, looking up at her. "I don't deny the reason that you were needed, why we took you. But you must know how dearly I regret what was done to you." Sloane half pleaded. He sighed looking up at her. "Let me show you something." 


	3. 3

"He knew nothing? I told you he wouldn't." She sighed into the phone.  
  
"I need to find her." Jack said, his voice tight with anger, and regret.  
  
"She was well trained Jack, she knows how to disappear. Leave her be." Irina said thoughtfully.  
  
"She needs to know," He started, unsure of what he really wanted to say, "the truth. She should hear it from me." He sighed, knowing it was no use.  
  
"She wont. She can't hear it from you." Irina said considering her daughter in her mind. "Leave it be Jack, she will find her way back to you. She needs her answers more right now." Irina tried to sound confident, soothing even, but it wasn't helping. Jack hated being out of control, there was nothing she could do to change that.  
  
"Fine." He said rather harshly. He took a breath and paused for a moment. "Any word on Katya?" He said carefully.  
  
"None. I thought she would have contacted me, to gloat at least." Irina smiled to herself. "I'm sure she'll find her way back to you as well." She laughed a little, suppressing her own jealousy.  
  
"Don't be so sure, she can no longer use me." Jack said with a hint of a smile.  
  
"Jack you have a way with women, and you have a way in bed. She'll be back." Irina was completely serious. Letting any sort of emotion show was against her nature. Her pride was on the line.  
  
"Who said anything about bed?" Jack said quickly, unsure of what Irina really knew.  
  
"It's alright Jack. Did you really think I wouldn't know you would sleep together? Honestly." She sighed, faltering slightly in her façade. "Besides, there is something about you that Derevko women can't resist." She now laughed, mostly at herself.  
  
"Irina," Jack sighed, amazed at his own desire not to hurt her.  
  
"Jack I'm not a girl, and I'm not your wife anymore." Irina sighed.  
  
"There will never be anyone else." He said before thinking.  
  
"We both always knew it would be that way." She smiled.  
  
.....................................................................  
  
She watched him carefully, trying to discern his intent. His face was so snake-like, so shifty that it was always a risk to guess what he was thinking. His motives were even more unclear. Why would he help her? She couldn't be more uncertain of the situation.  
  
But she watched as he walked back into the room with a document in hand. He smiled at her, almost warmly. She held her breath as he neared. He sat next to her, close enough to make her skin crawl, far enough that she didn't try and move away.  
  
"When was the last time you saw your mother?" Sloane asked softly, searching her face.  
  
"I don't know," She shook her head. "It must have been almost three years ago." She sighed remembering the night in Mexico City.  
  
"You father was arrested, and held for being in collusion with her. He was in solitary for a year." Sloane said, still watching her eyes intently.  
  
"I know all that. What is this about?" Sydney said impatiently.  
  
"Here," Sloane said, handing her the sheet of paper. Sydney took it and read it thoroughly.  
  
"Flight numbers, hotel purchases." Sydney said impatiently. "All in Odesa Ukraine. What does this have to do with my mother?"  
  
"These are your father's itineraries, and expense reports. He has always had a knack for record keeping." Sloane laughed a little.  
  
"And," Sydney prompted.  
  
"And I know your parents. Your mother is in Odesa." Sloane said matter-of- factly.  
  
Sydney paused for a moment, thinking intensely. "Why should I believe you? How do I know you're not setting me up?"  
  
"Why did you come here Sydney?" Sloane asked quietly, before rising to the sofa. He stood for a moment with is back to her. "When this is all over I hope you and Nadia can be the sisters that you both want so much." He said turning to face her.  
  
Sydney rose slowly clutching the paper Sloane had given her tightly in her hand. She watched his face with a blank, far off expression.  
  
"I look forward to seeing you again. Good luck with your mother." He smiled.  
  
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End file.
